You are being watched. Private and state-sponsored organizations are monitoring and recording your online activities. privacytools.io provides knowledge and tools to protect your privacy against global mass surveillance.

Privacy? I don't have anything to hide.

Over the last 16 months, as I've debated this issue around the world, every single time somebody has said to me, "I don't really worry about invasions of privacy because I don't have anything to hide." I always say the same thing to them. I get out a
pen, I write down my email address. I say, "Here's my email address. What I want you to do when you get home is email me the passwords to all of your email accounts, not just the nice, respectable work one in your name, but all of them, because I
want to be able to just troll through what it is you're doing online, read what I want to read and publish whatever I find interesting. After all, if you're not a bad person, if you're doing nothing wrong, you should have nothing to hide." Not a single person has taken me up on that offer.

Global Mass Surveillance - The Fourteen Eyes

The UKUSA Agreement is an agreement between the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand to cooperatively collect, analyze, and share intelligence. Members of this group, known as the Five Eyes, focus on gathering and analyzing intelligence from different parts of the world. While Five Eyes countries have agreed to not spy on each other as adversaries, leaks by Snowden have revealed that some Five Eyes members monitor each other's citizens and share intelligence to avoid breaking domestic laws that prohibit them from spying on their own citizens. The Five Eyes alliance also cooperates with groups of third-party countries to share intelligence (forming the Nine Eyes and Fourteen Eyes), however Five Eyes and third-party countries can and do spy on each other.

Five Eyes

Australia

Canada

New Zealand

United Kingdom

United States of America

Nine Eyes

Denmark

France

Netherlands

Norway

Fourteen Eyes

Belgium

Germany

Italy

Spain

Sweden

Key Disclosure Law

Who is required to hand over the encryption keys to authorities?

Mandatory key disclosure laws require individuals to turn over encryption keys to law enforcement conducting a criminal investigation. How these laws are implemented (who may be legally compelled to assist) vary from nation to nation, but a warrant is generally required. Defenses against key disclosure laws include steganography and encrypting data in a way that provides plausible deniability.

Steganography involves hiding sensitive information (which may be encrypted) inside of ordinary data (for example, encrypting an image file and then hiding it in an audio file). With plausible deniability, data is encrypted in a way that prevents an adversary from being able to prove that the information they are after exists (for example, one password may decrypt benign data and another password, used on the same file, could decrypt sensitive data).

Related Information

Why is it not recommended to choose a US-based service?

Services based in the United States are not recommended because of the country's surveillance programs, use of National Security Letters (NSLs) and accompanying gag orders, which forbid the recipient from talking about the request. This combination allows the government to secretly force companies to grant complete access to customer data and transform the service into a tool of mass surveillance.

An example of this is Lavabit – a discontinued secure email service created by Ladar Levison. The FBI requested Snowden's records after finding out that he used the service. Since Lavabit did not keep logs and email content was stored encrypted, the FBI served a subpoena (with a gag order) for the service's SSL keys. Having the SSL keys would allow them to access
communications (both metadata and unencrypted content) in real time for all of Lavabit's customers, not just Snowden's.

Ultimately, Levison turned over the SSL keys and shut down the service at the same time. The US government then threatened Levison with arrest, saying that shutting down the service was a violation of the court order.

What is a warrant canary?

A warrant canary is a posted document stating that an organization has not received any secret subpoenas during a specific period of time. If this document fails to be updated during the specified time then the user is to assume that the service has received such a subpoena and should stop using the service.

Browser Fingerprint - Is your browser configuration unique?

When you visit a web page, your browser voluntarily sends information about its configuration, such as available fonts, browser type, and add-ons. If this combination of information is unique, it may be possible to identify and track you without using cookies. EFF created a Tool called Panopticlick to test your browser to see how unique it is.

You need to find what most browsers are reporting, and then use those variables to bring your browser in the same population. This means having the same fonts, plugins, and extensions installed as the large installed base. You should have a spoofed user agent string to match what the large userbase has. You need to have the same settings enabled and disabled, such as DNT and WebGL. You need your browser to look as common as everyone else. Disabling JavaScript, using Linux, or even the TBB, will make your browser stick out from the masses.

Modern web browsers have not been architected to assure personal web privacy. Rather than worrying about being fingerprinted, it seems more practical to use free software plugins like Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin and Disconnect. They not only respect your freedom, but your privacy also. You can get much further with these than trying to manipulate your browser's fingerprint.

How to fix the WebRTC Leak in Google Chrome?

WebRTC cannot be fully disabled in Chrome, however it is possible to change its routing settings (and prevent leaks) using an extension. Two open source solutions include WebRTC Leak Prevent (options may need to be changed depending on the scenario), and uBlock Origin (select "Prevent WebRTC from leaking local IP addresses" in Settings).

Excellent Firefox Privacy Add-ons

Privacy Badger is a browser add-on that stops advertisers and other third-party trackers from secretly tracking where you go and what pages you look at on the web. Privacy Badger learns about trackers as you browse by inspecting external resources websites request. Please be aware that Google Analytics is considered first-party by Privacy Badger, which means that Google Analytics will not be blocked if you do not use another blocker, such as uBlock Origin.

An efficient wide-spectrum-blocker that's easy on memory, and yet can load and enforce thousands more filters than other popular blockers out there. It has no monetization strategy and is completely open source. We recommend Firefox but uBlock Origin also works in other browsers such as Safari, Opera, and Chromium. Unlike AdBlock Plus, uBlock does not allow so-called "acceptable ads".

A Firefox, Chrome, and Opera extension that encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure. A collaboration between The Tor Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Emulates Content Delivery Networks locally by intercepting requests, finding the required resource and injecting it into the environment. This all happens instantaneously, automatically, and no prior configuration is required. Source code: GitLab (self-hosted).

The following add-ons require quite a lot of interaction from the user to get things working. Some sites will not work properly until you have configured the add-ons.

Many websites integrate features which let other websites track you, such as Facebook Like Buttons or Google Analytics. uMatrix gives you control over the requests that websites make to other websites. This gives you greater and more fine-grained control over the information that you leak online.

Highly customizable plugin to selectively allow JavaScript, Java, and Flash to run only on websites you trust. Not for casual users, it requires technical knowledge to configure.

Firefox: Privacy Related "about:config" Tweaks

This is a collection of privacy-related about:config tweaks. We'll show you how to enhance the privacy of your Firefox browser.

Preparation:

Enter "about:config" in the firefox address bar and press enter.

Press the button "I'll be careful, I promise!"

Follow the instructions below...

Getting started:

privacy.firstparty.isolate = true

A result of the Tor Uplift effort, this preference isolates all browser identifier sources (e.g. cookies) to the first party domain, with the goal of preventing tracking across different domains. (Don't do this if you are using the Firefox Addon "Cookie AutoDelete" with Firefox v58 or below.)

privacy.resistFingerprinting = true

A result of the Tor Uplift effort, this preference makes Firefox more resistant to browser fingerprinting.

privacy.trackingprotection.enabled = true

This is Mozilla's new built-in tracking protection. It uses Disconnect.me filter list, which is redundant if you are already using uBlock Origin 3rd party filters, therefore you should set it to false if you are using the add-on functionalities.

The attribute would be useful for letting websites track visitors' clicks.

browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo = 0

Even with Firefox set to not remember history, your closed tabs are stored temporarily at Menu -> History -> Recently Closed Tabs.

browser.urlbar.speculativeConnect.enabled = false

Disable preloading of autocomplete URLs. Firefox preloads URLs that autocomplete when a user types into the address bar, which is a concern if URLs are suggested that the user does not want to connect to. Source

Privacy-Conscious Email Providers - No Affiliates

All providers listed here are operating outside the US and support SMTP TLS. The table is sortable. Never trust any company with your privacy, always encrypt.

Email Service

URL

Since

Server

Storage

Price / Year

Bitcoin

Encryption

Own Domain

2013

Switzerland

500 MB

Free

Accepted

Built-in

Yes

2015

Netherlands

2 GB

Free

Accepted

Built-in

Yes

2011

Germany

1 GB

Free

No

Built-in

Yes

2013

Belgium

500 MB

Free

Accepted

Built-in

Yes

2014

Germany

2 GB

12 €

Accepted

Built-in

Yes

2009

Germany

2 GB

12 €

No

Built-in

No

1999

Norway

1 GB

$ 19.95

Yes

No

Yes

2003

Switzerland

1 GB

$ 49.95

Accepted

Built-in

Yes

2014

Netherlands

10 GB

$ 59.95

Accepted

Built-in

Yes

2010

Switzerland

2 GB

$ 60

Accepted

No

Yes

Interesting Email Providers Under Development

Confidant Mail - An open-source non-SMTP cryptographic email system optimized for large file attachments. It is a secure and spam-resistant alternative to regular email and online file drop services. It
uses GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) for content encryption and authentication, and TLS 1.2 with ephemeral keys for transport encryption.

Become Your Own Email Provider with Mail-in-a-Box

Take it a step further and get control of your email with this easy-to-deploy mail server in a box. Mail-in-a-Box lets you become your own mail service provider in a few easy steps. It's sort of like making your own Gmail, but one you control from top
to bottom. Technically, Mail-in-a-Box turns a fresh cloud computer into a working mail server. But you don't need to be a technology expert to set it up. More: https://mailinabox.email/

Related Information

Aging 'Privacy' Law Leaves Cloud E-Mail Open to Cops - Data stored in the cloud for longer than 6 months is considered abandoned and may be accessed by intelligence agencies without
a warrant. Learning: Use an external email client like Thunderbird or Enigmail, download your emails and store them locally. Never leave them on the server.

Autistici/Inventati server compromised - The cryptographic services offered by the Autistici/Inventati server have been compromised on 15th June 2004. It was discovered on 21st June 2005. One year
later. During an enquiry on a single mailbox, the Postal Police may have tapped for a whole year every user's private communication going through the server autistici.org/inventati.org.

Email Clients

Thunderbird

Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform email, news, and chat client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. Thunderbird is an email, newsgroup, news feed, and chat (XMPP, IRC, Twitter) client.

Email Alternatives

Bitmessage

Bitmessage is a P2P communications protocol used to send encrypted messages to another person or to many subscribers. It is decentralized and trustless,
meaning that you need-not inherently trust any entities like root certificate authorities. It uses strong authentication which means that the sender of a message cannot be spoofed, and it aims to hide "non-content" data.

RetroShare

Retroshare creates encrypted connections to your friends. Nobody can spy on you. Retroshare is completely decentralized. This means there are no central servers. It is entirely Open-Source and free. There are no costs, no ads and no Terms of Service.

DuckDuckGo

Firefox Addon

Google search link fix - Firefox extension that prevents Google and Yandex search pages from modifying search result links when you click them. This is useful when
copying links but it also helps privacy by preventing the search engines from recording your clicks. (Open Source)

Worth Mentioning

Qwant - Qwant's philosophy is based on two principles: no user tracking and no filter bubble. Qwant was launched in France in February 2013. Privacy Policy.

MetaGer - An open source metasearch engine, which is based in Germany. It focuses on protecting the user's privacy.

Encrypted Instant Messenger

If you are currently using an Instant Messenger like WhatsApp, Viber, LINE, Telegram or Threema, you should pick an alternative here.

Mobile: Signal

Signal is a mobile app developed by Open Whisper Systems. The app provides instant messaging, as well as voice and video calling.
All communications are end-to-end encrypted. Signal is free and open source, enabling anyone to verify its security by auditing the code. The development team is supported by community donations and grants. There are no advertisements,
and it doesn't cost anything to use.

Riot.im

beta

Riot.im is a decentralized free-software chatting application based on the Matrix protocol, a recent open protocol for real-time communication offering E2E encryption. It can bridge other communications via others protocols such as IRC too.

Desktop: Ricochet

Ricochet uses the Tor network to reach your contacts without relying on messaging servers. It creates a hidden service, which is used to rendezvous with
your contacts without revealing your location or IP address. Instead of a username, you get a unique address that looks like ricochet:rs7ce36jsj24ogfw. Other Ricochet users can use this address to send a contact request - asking to be
added to your contacts list.

Conversations - An open source Jabber/XMPP client for Android 4.4+ smartphones. Supports end-to-end encryption with either OMEMO or openPGP. There is also Conversations Legacy which still supports OTR.

Encrypted Video & Voice Messenger

If you are currently using a Video & Voice Messenger like Skype, Viber or Google Hangouts, you should pick an alternative here.

Mobile: Signal

Signal is a mobile app developed by Open Whisper Systems. The app provides instant messaging, as well as voice and video calling.
All communications are end-to-end encrypted. Signal is free and open source, enabling anyone to verify its security by auditing the code. The development team is supported by community donations and grants. There are no advertisements,
and it doesn't cost anything to use.

Wire

Wire is an app developed by Wire Swiss GmbH.
The Wire app allows users to exchange end-to-end encrypted instant messages, as well as make voice and video calls. Wire is free and open source, enabling anyone to verify its security by auditing the code.
The development team is backed by Iconical and they will monetize in the future with premium features/services.Caution: The company keeps a list of all the users you contact until you delete your account.

Linphone

Linphone is an open source SIP Phone and a free voice over IP service, available on mobile and desktop environments and on web browsers. It supports ZRTP for end-to-end encrypted voice and video communication.

File Sharing

OnionShare

OnionShare is an open source tool that lets you securely and anonymously share a file of any size. It works by starting a web server, making it accessible as a Tor onion service, and generating an unguessable URL to access and download the files. It doesn't require setting up a server on the internet somewhere or using a third-party filesharing service. You host the file on your own computer and use a Tor onion service to make it temporarily accessible over the internet.

Magic Wormhole

Get things from one computer to another, safely. This package provides a library and a command-line tool named wormhole, which makes it possible to get arbitrary-sized files and directories (or short pieces of text) from one computer to another. The two endpoints are identified by using identical "wormhole codes": in general, the sending machine generates and displays the code, which must then be typed into the receiving machine. The codes are short and human-pronounceable, using a phonetically-distinct wordlist. The receiving side offers tab-completion on the codewords, so usually only a few characters must be typed. Wormhole codes are single-use and do not need to be memorized.

Encrypted Cloud Storage Services

If you are currently using Cloud Storage Services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Apple iCloud, you should pick an alternative here.

Nextcloud - Choose your hoster

Similar functionally to the widely used Dropbox, with the difference being that Nextcloud is free and open-source, and thereby allowing anyone to install and operate it without charge on a private server, with no limits on storage space or the number of connected clients.

Least Authority S4 - For Experts

S4 (Simple Secure Storage Service) is Least Authority's verifiably secure off-site backup system for individuals and businesses. 100% client-side encryption and open source transparency. 250GB for $9.95/month or 5TB for $25.95/month. Servers are hosted with Amazon S3 in the US.

Self-Hosted Cloud Server Software

If you are currently using a Cloud Storage Services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Apple iCloud, you should think about hosting it on your own.

Pydio

Pydio is open source software that turns instantly any server (on-premise, NAS, cloud IaaS or PaaS) into a file sharing platform for your company. It is an alternative
to SaaS Boxes and Drives, with more control, safety and privacy, and favorable TCOs.

Tahoe-LAFS

Tahoe-LAFS is a Free and Open decentralized cloud storage system. It distributes your data across multiple servers. Even if some of the servers fail or are
taken over by an attacker, the entire file store continues to function correctly, preserving your privacy and security.

Nextcloud

Similar functionally to the widely used Dropbox, with the difference being that Nextcloud is free and open-source, and thereby allowing anyone to install and operate it without charge on a private server, with no limits on storage space or the number of connected clients.

VPS/Web Hosting: Orange Website

Secure File Sync Software

SparkleShare

SparkleShare creates a special folder on your computer. You can add remotely hosted folders (or "projects") to this folder. These projects will be automatically
kept in sync with both the host and all of your peers when someone adds, removes or edits a file.

Syncthing

Syncthing replaces proprietary sync and cloud services with something open, trustworthy and decentralized. Your data is your data alone and you deserve to
choose where it is stored, if it is shared with some third-party and how it's transmitted over the Internet.

Worth Mentioning

git-annex - Allows managing files with git, without checking the file contents into git. While that may seem paradoxical, it is useful when dealing with files larger than git can currently easily handle,
whether due to limitations in memory, time, or disk space.

Password Manager Software

If you are currently using a password manager software like 1Password, LastPass, Roboform or iCloud Keychain, you should pick an alternative here.

Bitwarden - Cloud/Self-host

Bitwarden is a free and open source password manager. It aims to solve password management problems for individuals, teams, and business organizations. Bitwarden is among the easiest and safest solutions to store all of your logins and passwords while conveniently keeping them synced between all of your devices. If you don't want to use the Bitwarden cloud, you can easily host your own Bitwarden server.

KeePass / KeePassXC - Local

KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. All passwords in one database, which is locked with one
master key or a key file. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known: AES and Twofish. See also: KeePassXC with official native cross-platform support for Windows/macOS/Linux.

LessPass - Browser

LessPass is a free and open source password manager that generates unique passwords for websites, email accounts, or anything else based on a master password and information you know. No sync needed. Uses PBKDF2 and SHA-256. It's advised to use the browser addons for more security.

Worth Mentioning

Master Password - Master Password is based on an ingenious password generation algorithm that guarantees your passwords can never be lost. Its passwords aren't stored: they are generated on-demand from your name, the site and your master password. No syncing, backups or internet access needed.

Password Safe - Whether the answer is one or hundreds, Password Safe allows you to safely and easily create a secured and encrypted username/password list. With Password Safe all you have to do is create and remember
a single "Master Password" of your choice in order to unlock and access your entire username/password list.

Related Information

Calendar and Contacts Sync

If you are currently using a calendar and or contacts synchronization service like Google Sync or iCloud, you should pick an alternative here.

Nextcloud

NextCloud is a suite of client-server software for creating and using file hosting services. This includes calendar sync via CalDAV and contacts sync via CardDAV. Nextcloud is free and open-source, thereby allowing anyone to install and operate it without charge on a private server.

EteSync

EteSync is a secure, end-to-end encrypted and journaled personal information (e.g. contacts and calendar) cloud synchronization and backup for Android and any OS that supports CalDAV/CardDAV. It costs $14 per year to use, or you can host the server yourself for free.

Worth Mentioning

fruux - a unified contacts/calendaring system that works across platforms and devices.

Flock - a discontinued calendar and contacts sync service by Open Whisper Systems. Despite being shut down the source code is still available on GitHub.

cloud backups - consider regularly exporting your calendar and or contacts and backing them up on a separate storage drive or uploading them to cloud storage (ideally after encrypting them).

File Encryption Software

If you are currently not using encryption software for your hard disk, emails or file archives, you should pick an encryption software here.

VeraCrypt - Disk Encryption

VeraCrypt is a source-available freeware utility used for on-the-fly encryption. It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file or encrypt a partition
or the entire storage device with pre-boot authentication. VeraCrypt is a fork of the discontinued TrueCrypt project. It was initially released on June 22, 2013. According to its developers, security improvements have been implemented and issues
raised by the initial TrueCrypt code audit have been addressed.

GNU Privacy Guard - Email Encryption

GnuPG is a GPL Licensed alternative to the PGP suite of cryptographic software. GnuPG is compliant with RFC 4880, which is the current IETF standards track specification
of OpenPGP. Current versions of PGP (and Veridis' Filecrypt) are interoperable with GnuPG and other OpenPGP-compliant systems. GnuPG is a part of the Free Software Foundation's GNU software project, and has received major funding from the German
government. GPGTools for macOS.

PeaZip - File Archive Encryption

PeaZip is a free and open-source file manager and file archiver made by Giorgio Tani. It supports its native PEA archive format (featuring compression, multi volume
split and flexible authenticated encryption and integrity check schemes) and other mainstream formats, with special focus on handling open formats. It supports 181 file extensions (as of version 5.5.1).

DiskCryptor - A full disk and partition encryption system for Windows including the ability to encrypt the partition and disk on which the OS is installed.

Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS) - A full disk encryption system for Linux using dm-crypt as the disk encryption backend. Included by default in Ubuntu. Available for Windows and Linux.

Self-contained Networks

If you are currently browsing clearnet and want to access the dark web, this section is for you.

Tor Browser

The Tor network is a group of volunteer-operated servers that allows people to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. Tor's users employ this network by connecting through a series of virtual tunnels rather than making a direct connection, thus allowing both organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy. Tor is an effective censorship circumvention tool.

I2P Anonymous Network

The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is a computer network layer that allows applications to send messages to each other pseudonymously and securely. Uses include anonymous
Web surfing, chatting, blogging and file transfers. The software that implements this layer is called an I2P router and a computer running I2P is called an I2P node. The software is free and open source and is published under multiple licenses.

The Freenet Project

Freenet is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information, and
has a suite of free software for publishing and communicating on the Web without fear of censorship. Both Freenet and some of its associated tools were originally designed by Ian Clarke, who defined Freenet's goal as providing freedom of speech
on the Internet with strong anonymity protection.

Decentralized Social Networks

If you are currently using Social Networks like Facebook, Twitter or Google+, you should pick an alternative here.

Mastodon

Mastodon is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It is decentralized like e-mail. It also has the most users, and the most diverse (in terms of interests) users, looks good, and is easy to setup.

diaspora*

diaspora* is based on three key philosophies: Decentralization, freedom and privacy. It is intended to address privacy concerns related to centralized social
networks by allowing users set up their own server (or "pod") to host content; pods can then interact to share status updates, photographs, and other social data.

Friendica

Friendica has an emphasis on extensive privacy settings and easy server installation. It aims to federate with as many other social networks as possible. Currently,
Friendica users can integrate contacts from Facebook, Twitter, Diaspora, GNU social, App.net, Pump.io and other services in their social streams.

Domain Name System (DNS)

Njalla - Domain Registration

Njalla only needs your email or jabber address in order to register a domain name for you. Created by people from The Pirate Bay and IPredator VPN. Accepted Payments: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, DASH, Bitcoin Cash and PayPal. A privacy-aware domain registration service.

DNSCrypt - Tool

A protocol for securing communications between a client and a DNS resolver. The DNSCrypt protocol uses high-speed high-security elliptic-curve cryptography and
is very similar to DNSCurve, but focuses on securing communications between a client and its first-level resolver.

OpenNIC - Service

OpenNIC is an alternate network information center/alternative DNS root which lists itself as an alternative to ICANN and its registries. Like all alternative
root DNS systems, OpenNIC-hosted domains are unreachable to the vast majority of the Internet. Only specific configuration in one's DNS resolver makes these reachable, and very few Internet service providers have this configuration.

Worth Mentioning

NoTrack - A network-wide DNS server which blocks Tracking sites. Currently works in Debian and Ubuntu.

Namecoin - A decentralized DNS open source information registration and transfer system based on the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

Pi-hole - A network-wide DNS server for the Raspberry Pi. Blocks advertising and tracking domains for all devices on your network.

Digital Notebook

If you are currently using an application like Evernote, Google Keep or Microsoft OneNote you should pick an alternative here.

Joplin

Joplin is a free, open source, fully featured note taking and to-do application, which can handle a large number of markdown notes organized into notebooks and tags. It offers E2EE encryption and can sync through Nextcloud, Dropbox and more. It also offers easy import from Evernote and plain text notes.

Standard Notes

Standard Notes is a simple and private notes app that makes your notes easy and available everywhere you are. Features end-to-end encryption on every platform, and a powerful desktop experience with themes and custom editors.

Turtl

Turtl lets you take notes, bookmark websites, and store documents for sensitive projects. From sharing passwords with your coworkers to tracking research on an article you're writing, Turtl keeps it all safe from everyone but you and those you share with.

Warning

Note: As of Dec 2018, Joplin does not support password/pin protection for the application itself or individual notes/notebooks. Data is still encrypted in transit and at sync location using your master key. See open issue.

Worth Mentioning

Org-mode - A major mode for GNU Emacs. Org-mode is for keeping notes, maintaining TODO lists, planning projects, and authoring documents with a fast and effective plain-text system.

Paste Services

PrivateBin

PrivateBin is a minimalist, open source online pastebin where the server has zero knowledge of pasted data. Data is encrypted/decrypted in the browser using 256bit AES. It is the improved version of ZeroBin.

Zerobin.net

Ghostbin

Ghostbin supports encryption, expiration, sessions, grant users to edit your notes and pastes up to one megabyte. You can also create your own account to keep track of your pastes.
The software is good but ghostbin.com's security is worrisome.

Worth Mentioning

disroot.org - Free privacy-friendly service that offers PrivateBin and other applications.

Productivity Tools

CryptPad

CryptPad is a private-by-design alternative to popular office tools and cloud services. All content is end-to-end encrypted. It is free and open source, enabling anyone to verify its security by auditing the code. The development team is supported by donations and grants. No registration is required, and it can be used anonymously via Tor browser.

Write.as

Write.as is a cross-platform, privacy-oriented blogging platform. It's anonymous by default, letting you publish without signing up. If you create an account, it doesn't require any personal information. No ads, distraction-free, and built on a sustainable business model.

Worth Mentioning

EtherCalc - EtherCalc is a web spreadsheet. Data is saved on the web, and people can edit the same document at the same time. Changes are instantly reflected on all screens. Work together on inventories, survey forms, list management, brainstorming sessions.

PC Operating Systems

If you are currently using a operating system like Microsoft Windows or Apple macOS, you should pick an alternative here.

Qubes OS

Qubes is an open-source operating system designed to provide strong security for desktop computing. Qubes is based on Xen, the X Window System, and Linux, and can run most Linux applications and utilize most of the Linux drivers.

Debian

Debian is a Unix-like computer operating system and a Linux distribution that is composed entirely of free and open-source software, most of which is under the GNU General Public License, and packaged by a group of individuals known as the Debian project.

Trisquel

Trisquel is a Linux-based operating system derived from Ubuntu. The project aims for a fully free software system without proprietary software or firmware and uses Linux-libre, a version of the Linux kernel with the non-free code (binary blobs) removed.

Worth Mentioning

Arch Linux - A simple, lightweight Linux distribution. It is composed predominantly of free and open-source software, and supports community involvement. Parabola is a
completely open source version of Arch Linux.

Whonix - A Debian GNU/Linux based security-focused Linux distribution. It aims to provide privacy, security and anonymity on the internet. The operating system consists of two virtual machines, a "Workstation"
and a Tor "Gateway". All communication are forced through the Tor network to accomplish this.

Subgraph OS - Another Debian based Linux distribution, it features security hardening which makes it more resistant to security vulnerabilities. Subgraph runs many desktop applications in a security sandbox to limit their risk in case of compromise.
By default, it anonymizes Internet traffic by sending it through the Tor network. Note: It is still in alpha, and much testing and bug fixing still has to be done.

Live CD Operating Systems

Tails

Tails is a live operating system, that starts on almost any computer from a DVD, USB stick, or SD card. It aims at preserving privacy and anonymity, and helps to: Use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship; Internet connections go through the Tor network; leave no trace on the computer; use state-of-the-art cryptographic tools to encrypt files, emails and instant messaging.

KNOPPIX

Knoppix is an operating system based on Debian designed to be run directly from a CD / DVD (Live CD) or a USB flash drive (Live USB), one of the first of its kind for any operating system. When starting a program, it is loaded from the removable medium and decompressed into a RAM drive. The decompression is transparent and on-the-fly.

Puppy Linux

Puppy Linux operating system is a lightweight Linux distribution that focuses on ease of use and minimal memory footprint. The entire system can be run from RAM with current versions generally taking up about 210 MB, allowing the boot medium to be removed after the operating system has started.

Worth Mentioning

Tiny Core Linux - A minimal Linux operating system focusing on providing a base system using BusyBox and FLTK. The distribution is notable for its size (15 MB) and minimalism, with additional functionality
provided by extensions.

Mobile Operating Systems

Even though the source code of the following OS is provided, installing Google Apps may compromise your setup. The MicroG project can serve as a FLOSS replacement, depending on your threat model.

LineageOS

LineageOS is a free and open-source operating system for smartphones and tablets, based on the official releases of Android by Google. It is the continuation of the CyanogenMod project.

Android Privacy Add-ons

NetGuard provides simple and advanced ways to block certain apps' access to the internet without the help of root privileges. Applications and addresses can individually be allowed or denied access to your Wi-Fi and/or mobile connection, allowing you to control which apps are able to call home or not.

The following add-ons require root access, which makes your device more vulnerable. Proceed with caution.

Open Source Router Firmware

OpenWrt

OpenWrt is an operating system (in particular, an embedded operating system) based on the Linux kernel, primarily used on embedded devices to route network traffic. The main components are the Linux kernel, util-linux, uClibc and BusyBox. All components have been optimized for size, to be small enough for fitting into the limited storage and memory available in home routers.

pfSense

pfSense is an open source firewall/router computer software distribution based on FreeBSD. It is installed on a computer to make a dedicated firewall/router for a network and is noted for its reliability and offering features often only found in expensive commercial firewalls. pfSense is commonly deployed as a perimeter firewall, router, wireless access point, DHCP server, DNS server, and as a VPN endpoint.

LibreCMC

LibreCMC is a GNU/Linux-libre distribution for computers with minimal resources, such as the Ben Nanonote, ath9k-based Wi-Fi routers, and other hardware with emphasis on free software. The project's current goal is to aim for compliance with the GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines (GNU FSDG) and ensure that the project continues to meet these requirements set forth by the Free Software Foundation (FSF)..

The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your emails or your wife's phone, all
I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards. I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things... I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is
not something I am willing to support or live under.

We all need places where we can go to explore without the judgmental eyes of other people being cast upon us, only in a realm where we're not being watched can we really test the limits of who we want to be. It's really in the private realm where
dissent, creativity and personal exploration lie.

PRISM Break - We all have a right to privacy, which you can exercise today by encrypting your communications and ending your reliance on proprietary services.

Security in-a-Box - A guide to digital security for activists and human rights defenders throughout the world.

SecureDrop - An open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can use to securely accept documents from and communicate with anonymous sources. It was originally created
by the late Aaron Swartz and is currently managed by Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Osalt - A directory to help you find open source alternatives to proprietary tools.

AlternativeTo - A directory to help find alternatives to other software, with the option to only show open source software

Note: Just being open source does not make software secure!

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